


500 Words #410: Reductionist

by Meldanya



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 19:57:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6624142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meldanya/pseuds/Meldanya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A very brief drabble involving  drinks and a debate on criminal psychology.</p>
            </blockquote>





	500 Words #410: Reductionist

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fire_Sign](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Sign/gifts).



> _Reductionism_ (noun)  
>  1\. the theory that every complex phenomenon, especially in biology or psychology, can be explained by analyzing the simplest, most basic physical mechanisms that are in operation during the phenomenon.
> 
> 2\. the practice of simplifying a complex idea, issue, condition, or the like, especially to the point of minimizing, obscuring, or distorting it.

She would never admit that she couldn’t keep up.

She didn’t have the advantages of a university degree. She hadn’t had a decade of quiet evenings to read for self-improvement.

_“Well, Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious posits that—”_

Her knowledge was all from hard life experiences, and some carefully cultivated tastes.

_“I don’t think so, Inspector, have you read the latest publications saying that— ”_

Too many men had tried to talk down to her. She had been in far too many sticky situations: she always had to act like the best, brightest, and fastest person in the room.

_“Doctor, I’m sorry, but I disagree — his theories on criminal psychology are completely off-base—”_

She could never show how much she didn’t know — how much she hadn’t read — she would never be so foolish as to show weakness.

_“Well, if you’re going to have such a reductionist approach to to this matter, Inspector—”_

She refilled some drinks as her two guests wrangled. She had definitely been quiet far too long; it was time to launch in: “Well, at the end of day, what do these professors in cozy offices know about criminal behaviour? It would do them some good to meet an actual murderer and _then_ tell me it’s a matter of defective glands, or psychological repression or whatnot.”

That got both of their attentions, and they all started hashing over actual cases they had known.

She would never let on when she couldn’t keep up. But it _was_ nice to be in a room where she had nothing to prove.


End file.
